Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve protects 110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, representing one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America.

The Collier County Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, the Collier Audubon Society, and a number of private investors, began a grass roots effort which resulted in the purchase of 3,362 acres which eventually became the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Sanctuary, with official designation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1980.

[2] Team OCEAN is a volunteer partnership between Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida Sea Grant and other community contributors that follows the model set at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

[4] Reserve resource managers facilitate land acquisition, conduct habitat and hydrology restoration projects, eradicate and control invasive plants and animals, protect listed species, respond to marine mammal strandings, manage important habitats and conduct prescribed fires to sustain native biodiversity.

[6] Researchers from a wide array of wildlife specializations study at Rookery Bay and the reserve uses the scientists' information to oversee its resources.